The Impact of Chemical Mechanical Planarization Polishing on a Surface Textured With Deterministic Microasperities Available to Purchase

In this paper a method for fabricating deterministic microasperities on stainless steel by a photolithographic lift-off technique followed by electrodeposition of nickel is presented. Triangular asperities with an asperity area fraction of 0.20 are deposited onto a stainless steel disk. Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing is employed for adjusting the heights of the asperities. The surface profiles of the asperities are then characterized. Results show that the surfaces of the as-deposited asperities have a curved profile with one side shorter than the other. The surface profile becomes more uniform after polishing in the CMP machine but polishing tends to round the edges and corners of the asperities. Additionally, polishing results in the grooving of channel in the substrate in between the asperities and chips the asperity walls.